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Queenslanders'
Basic Rights
Rights
of the People
Self-determination
is not necessarily the only right of the people of a nation as a whole.
Australian law increasingly recognises that the Australian people are the
ultimate source of authority under the Australian Constitution. Similarly,
Australian law increasingly recognises between governments and the people as a
relationship which has political (and sometimes legal) obligations of:
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ACCOUNTABILITY
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CONFIDENCE
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RESPONSIBILITY,
and
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TRUST
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Moreover, all
governments in Australia hold and exercise their power on TRUST
for the benefit of the people. This creates political obligations, if not legal
obligations. In matters of public policy, various notions of 'the public
interest', guide government action. All of these things can have a direct or
indirect impact upon rights in legislation, policy-making and government
administration.
Everyone
in Queensland should be aware of the basic importance of the people and their
rights in the political system. Former Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir
Anthony Mason, said in 1992 that:
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Our
democracy means 'government by the people through their
representatives';
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Because
of the Australian Constitution, 'elected representatives exercise
sovereign power on behalf of the Australian people' and 'exercise their
legislative and executive powers as representatives of the people'; and
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'In
the exercise of those powers the representatives of necessity are
accountable to the people for what they do and have a responsibility to
take account of the views of the people on whose behalf they act'. |
This
is a powerful statement about the Australian people and their legal status. It
has wide-ranging implications. The primary place of the people in Australia's
and Queensland's systems of government also generate political and possibly
legal obligations of responsibility and accountability in the exercise of
government power.
Those
obligations are owed by governments to the people as a whole.
Queenslanders' Basic Rights
- (FULL
and Abbreviated versions)
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